Trump golf workers have objected to wages, working conditions

NEW YORK — The New York state attorney general’s office says it received complaints about wages and working conditions at a Trump golf club outside New York City after a news report quoted several workers in the country illegally saying they had been cheated out of pay.

The attorney general’s confirmation Tuesday that it is in receipt of the complaints at Trump National Golf Club Westchester follows a Washington Post report the same day about golf club managers not paying workers in the country illegally for overtime or denying promotions or health care benefits.

The Post quoted a Trump Organization spokeswoman saying the workers’ claims were “total nonsense.” The company did not respond to a request by The Associated Press for comment.

President Donald Trump’s company has fired dozens of staffers at its clubs who lacked proper work documents since the start of the year. That came after several who had been working at clubs in New York and New Jersey came forward to say they had been hired in full knowledge by Trump management of their legal status.

The new scrutiny of the company by the New York attorney general comes atop several other probes by the state top law enforcer. Attorney General Letitia James has sued Trump over his charitable foundation and is investigating allegations that Trump exaggerated his wealth to obtain loans.

“The Office of the Attorney General is in receipt of complaints regarding working conditions and wages at the Trump National Golf Club Westchester,” a statement from the office said Tuesday. “We are unable to comment further on this matter at this time.”

A lawyer representing 38 fired workers at Trump clubs issued a statement Wednesday calling the president a hypocrite for lashing out at workers without legal status while using them at his clubs.

“He has and continues to profit on the backs of the very undocumented immigrants he claims are the largest threat to America today,” said attorney Anibal Romero. “Trump shut down the government over immigrants, yet hires them to do jobs no one else will do.”

The Trump Organization has said that it did not know that its workers were in the country illegally and that it does not tolerate such hiring practices.

Left:
A view of the putting green and clock at the Trump National Golf Club Westchester where U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was scheduled to deliver remarks on the date of the vote in presidential primary elections in several states including California, in Briarcliff Manor, New York, on June 7, 2016. Photo by Mike Segar/Reuters